


Mawkish Mien

by AmatureWriter



Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Accidents, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Arguing, Carrying, Characters are movie form, Cold, Conflict Resolution, Destiny's Bounty, Falling into lake, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Garmadon makes mistakes, Heart-to-Heart, Hypothermia, I'm not a big fan of his new voice in the series, I'm not ready for that yet, Lloyd is movie Lloyd, Lloyd is unsure that his dad loves him, Snow, Tears, They ain't lego hunny, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wu is kinda stupid, blizzard, bonding moment, but I think they would argue over it, but he probably knew this was gonna happen, cause he is all knowing, cause the series now sucks ngl, father-son bonding, for sending these dorks on a mission together, oofles my dudes, protective garmadon, they argue over the stupidest thing too, they have a fight, you don't see a lot of these fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-15 22:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21026075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmatureWriter/pseuds/AmatureWriter
Summary: Lloyd and Garmadon have been tasked with bringing back an amulet from the coldest mountains in Ninjago. However, after a fight gone wrong, Garmadon must now rethink his past behaviour.





	Mawkish Mien

The wind blew harshly and snow followed just as, cutting like knives through Lloyd Garmadon’s thick suit and freezing his cheeks solid. With every step, he took his legs sunk deeper and deeper into the white blanket covering the land as far as the eye could see. He took his eyes off the ground to look up for only a quick second just to make sure his father, Lord Garmadon, was still in front of him. Despite his dad joining his side, the young adult still had a sinking feeling that he would abandon him in the snow to die; though he kept that to himself, even when had Wu partnered them up to retrieve the Golden Amulet from the peaks of Mount. Kilininjago, lest the group stop trusting his dad. Garmadon was a changed man. The four arms, blacker than black body and blood-red eyes still terrified whoever looked upon him, but he changed. Lloyd just could not bring himself to trust someone so quickly, not even his own family.  
“La-Loyd,” called his father, voice buffered by the howling wind. “You keeping up?”  
“Yea, dad. I’m right behind you.”  
“What?” Garmadon yelled, though his body stayed forward despite the worry lacing his tone.  
“I’m right behind you!” Lloyd yelled again, louder.  
“I’m sorry, La-Loyd, but you’re gonna have to speak up. The holes replacing my ears aren’t what they used to be! Y’know, cause they’re holes now,” Garmadon laughed at his own joke, Lloyd looked back down to the snow. His feet were freezing he counted it a miracle they had not fallen off yet. 

He made a small yelp as he struck something, immediately noting it to be his father’s body he backed up a couple of steps to look up when he was stopped short by hands firmly gripping his shoulders. “La-Loyd, you really should answer when your elders speak to you.”  
“I did answer, you just didn’t hear me.”  
“Are you insulting my hearing. I’ll have you know my hearing is much better than Wu’s-”  
“That’s not what you said legit two seconds ago!” his feet left the snowy ground and stomped against ice, dense enough to hold his father so it would be dense enough to hold himself.  
Garmadon waved a hand in dismissal. “Kid, that was in the past.”  
“Stop making jokes.”  
“Can’t, I have to outdo the greatest joke I ever made-” Garmadon cut himself short and turned around abruptly to see that Lloyd had also stopped in his tracks. His eyes were wider than plated and mouth hanging slightly open. 

Lloyd mimicked him, staring in disbelief at his father. “What did you say?” finally words came to him and he pushed them out in a deep tone that cracked slightly.  
“Son, I didn’t mean it,” Garmadon tried to say, hand reaching out.  
“No, no. You did. You meant it,” Lloyd took a stance, legs stretched out and arms covering his chest. “You meant it back in the woods and you meant it here. Lies don’t just slip out of peoples mouth’s dad!”  
“What are you so upset about anyway? I’ve joked about you before, you know I don’t mean any of it.” What else could he say, the words had been spoken and nothing could take them back.  
“How can I be so sure?”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Oh, nothing. It's just that I can’t even be sure you won't leave me to freeze in the snow, so I’m definitely not sure that you actually don’t mean it.” The two stood stock still on the ice, glaring each other down.  
“La-Loyd, I would never leave you out here. Do you really think that low of me?” Garmadon asked, crossing his four arms and walking closer to Lloyd.  
“What if I do?”  
Garmadon felt something as if his stomach had fallen eight stories and his heart was beaten to a pulp by a sledgehammer. It was exactly like the moment when Lloyd had wished Garmadon was never his father. “I would never leave you,” he whispered lowly.  
Lloyd met his father the rest of the way, standing on his toes to match the man’s height. “Of course dad, it’s not like you’ve never done that before.”  
“It wasn’t my decision to leave you.”  
“Don’t blame my mom for your inability to change for your family.”  
“I did change for my family!”  
“Oh, that’s right! You want a medal for that!” Lloyd’s voice became louder and he backed away, the ice glowing underneath his feet. “Sixteen years too late dad! Sixteen years you stayed the same, I get that you’ve changed now but I know how hard it is to break a habit.”  
“La-Loyd, calm down. Please,” Garmadon was going to walk closer to his son, but the cracks underneath the ice swayed him away; if he moved closer he would bring them both into the ice with his weight. 

Everything was spilling out, every pent up emotion and thoughts he had towards his father from ever since he had found out Garmadon was an evil overlord. He could not stop the tears from falling, could not stop the words from flowing out of his mouth and falling onto the floor in a clutter. “I won’t calm down! You weren’t there for me when I needed you! You only cared about taking over Ninjago! It’s only when you needed me that you pretended to care about me, well you can drop the act now, dad! I know the truth, we both know the truth!” Lloyd went to take a step backwards, getting prepared to leave his father and head back home (Wu would understand, right?), but something did not feel right. And his worries made themselves clear in the form of loud and harsh cracks in the ice. He stopped his blurb, both to catch his breath and watch in shock as the ice underneath his feet gave way and he fell into the hellish waters.  
Garmadon could do nothing but stare as his son fell, no sound was uttered out of both of them as it all happened so quickly; one moment Lloyd was above the water, the next he was under it.  
His legs thawed out and without thinking, he was diving in the water right after Lloyd, who was sinking rapidly. Grabbing his son he swam to the surface, for once thankful for four arms, and pushed Lloyd out of the water and followed after. “La-Loyd!” he yelled breathlessly, turning the blonde over and placed his head up against the limp teen's chest. He sighed in utter relief as he felt a small yet steady beat. “Thank you,” he whimpered, hoisting Lloyd’s arm around his neck and hauling him off the ice and back to the snow. “Let’s just blow off this mission, I didn’t want to do it anyway,” Garmadon said, mostly to himself, and proceeded to walk back. 

Lloyd’s legs were grazing the snow, due to the height of Garmadon, and his head hung low, chin touching his neck. He was freezing, colder than the winds ravishing the land.  
“Jezus, kid. You’re colder than my heart,” Garmadon tried to joke. “Could you do me a small favour and just open your eyes, doesn’t have to be much but I would definitely appreciate that.” Nothing.  
The overlord could do nothing to raise his son’s temperature, nothing to provide any comfort as he was sure he was not the most comfortable of people to be laying against. Koko had even said so herself on one of their many dates.  
“Wu really should have brought that fire ninja along with us, or better yet just have him and you go- he would be so much more useful in this weather. What was his name again?” Garmadon raised a hand to cup his chin. “Kyle?” he looked over to Lloyd. Still nothing. Not even mispronouncing his friend’s name would wake him up. 

“I deserve this, don’t I?” he asked the sky, the grey clouds providing no answer. “For being the worst father sixteen consecutive years in a row.” A small, lava-tear escaped his eye and he wiped it away quickly. “Almost seventeen.” Lloyd’s birthday was less than a week away and Garmadon had been planning it for months; it was going to be a birthday to make up for all the ones he had missed. The ninja’s had told him that the eighteenth birthday was the most important, but how could he wait so long when he had already waited long enough? “Even when I try to be a good father I just mess everything up. One day he’s calling me dad and the next he looks at me as if I’m a stranger, guess that’s what happens when you’ve not been there for so long. But dammit I was… I didn’t know how much this would affect him, how much it would hurt in the long run if I ever got back into La-Loyd’s life. Maybe that was why I held off for so long…” At this point, he did not even know who he was talking to. “I can’t let him slip from me, not when I’ve barely gotten to know him.”  
Lloyd twitched in his grasp, causing the elder’s mind to freak out a little, then he held on tighter; bringing the younger closer to his chest, trying to shield him from the wind. “Please,” he whimpered. “Please don’t take my son.” 

Along the way back, Garmadon resorted to carrying Lloyd back fireman style, his legs hanging over two long black arms and his head buried into the former’s chest. It was the only way he could keep a constant monitor on Lloyds heartbeat while simultaneously walking. And that walking turned into desperate running once the Bounty got into view, its anchor dangling precariously just inches above the floor. “Ninjas!” he yelled, getting the attention of Zane. The boy made a mad dash for the lever and soon the father-son duo was safely on the ship.  
“What happened?” yelled Kai when he reached him, stopping short when he saw Lloyd, grey as the sky, in Garmadons grip.  
“He fell in the lake- it’s all my fault- fire ninja please!”  
Kai needed nothing more said as he already had grabbed for Lloyd, his internal temperature rising by the second. “I’ll take him inside.”  
Garmadon nodded gratefully, then collapsed on the ship, adrenaline vanishing so quickly it was like it had never been there. Everything went fuzzy, then everything turned into nothing. 

Garmadon awoke with a start, jumping out of bed, scaring whoever was sitting in a wooden chair and yelled Lloyd’s name out for all the world to hear.  
“Bro, calm down!” Kai came into vision. “Dude, you’re fine. You both are, thanks to whoever is watching you guys,” he paused for a minute to catch his breath. “Well, I’m not. Nearly damn gave me a heart attack just there,” he laughed it off, tried to at least, then sat back down again on the rocking chair. “My back is giving me a bad time, remind me to go visit Zane after Lloyd wakes up? That guy can do miracles- I swear he’s gotta be a machine or something.”  
A second after Kai had settled down, Lloyd began to stir, and the hot-headed teen smiled. “Guess that’s my cue to leave then. Hopefully, y'all can talk this out and we won’t have another lake incident.” 

Garmadon had not paid Kai any attention, not even looking as the door closed with a muffled bang, only keeping his eyes on Lloyd. The teen’s complection had gotten better, colour returning to almost normal. He smiled, getting out of bed and sitting on Lloyd’s. His hand when through to comb the blonde hair.  
“Dad?” came a weak voice.  
“I’m here, La-Loyd.”  
Lloyd turned over, greeting his dad’s red eyes with his own green ones. “Dad… I’m so sorry.”  
“I’m going to stop you right there, son. You have nothing to be sorry for. Trust me. It should be me apologizing to you.”  
“But-”  
“No buts- they smell. No, I need to say sorry. I was too stuck up my own ways to even notice how I hurt you, how my absence impacted you. And I know I’m not the most serious of people… I’m so sorry. I want to try to make up for it all, make up for all the times I hadn’t been there.” He was going to continue, however, Lloyd had reached up and wrapped his arms around his father’s. “You have made up for it: You taught me how to throw, how to catch, shave- you even taught me out to diffuse a bomb. Sure it came too late, but it's better late than never. I couldn’t ask for a better dad.”  
“Do you mean that? You can tell me the truth La-Loyd.”  
“I am telling you the truth dad; I don’t have a reason to lie to you.” Garmadon looked unconvinced. “All of my insecurities over the past years and everything I had ever thought since I saw you for the first time in ages came tumbling out. I needed to vent and for some reason, my stupid brain decided that right above an icy death was the best place for that.”  
“There never is a good time for anything, La-Loyd. You do have to know that on the ice or in the Bounty; anywhere and anytime, I will listen to you. And I will either sit there or shout back- I’d even fight if you wanted to. As long as you feel better by the end of it, then it’ll all be worth it, alright?”  
Lloyd nodded, tears streaming down his still pale face, and latched onto his father, squeezing him tightly. “Thank you, dad.”  
“Of course, son.”


End file.
